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Blogger Swap

Thursday, 19 April 2012

A few months ago I signed up to become apart of a blogging swap. It was for Valentines Day and we were allocated with someone from the other side of the world to buy a Valentines Day gift for. I saw it on Beast and Beauty's Blog and straight away signed up.

It's a fantastic way of not only finding out about other blogs, but giving and receiving products not available (or difficult to get) in your country. I was paired up with a blogger from Canada that is OBSESSED with nail polish. Shayna is nuts over nails and blogs about it here. If you love nail polish too. her site is great but deadly. You see polishes that aren't available here in Australia or are sooooo hard to order. So beware that you may double your wishlist from reading her site! ;) I've fallen in love with brands like Pam's Girly Bits, Cult Nails, Deborah Lippmann and Julep Nail Vernis from her site.

I sent Shayna not only nail polishes (since they are her fave beauty item), but also make up and a body moisturiser. It was so much fun reading up about someone you've never met and buying new and exciting things for them. I bought her things from brands such as Australis, Bloom and Jurlique.

And this is what I received from Shayna the other day...

Julep "Facial For Hands"This is such a great product that I would never have thought to buy. I mean, when was the last time you exfoliated your hands? But with the daily damage you do to them, a hand exfoliator is amazing! It has a beautiful smell and leaves your hands feeling soft, and ready for a moisturiser. Julep is made in the US, and this hand exfoliator doesn't contain parabens, sulfates or phthalates. It does contain glycolic acid and apricot seeds to exfoliate the skin.

Julep Nail Vernis in "Leah" and Shania"This polishes are 3 free. The 2 colours I received where a gorgeous silvery white and bright green. The green reminds me a bit of Kermit (the photo makes it seem more of a teal colour). I can't wait to see how long it lasts for and what the quality is like. I used the "Shania" and found it quite thin, but not watery or streaky. It has a great consistency that is great for building up colour and not having bubbles or bumps.

Cake "Hydrating Moisture Milk"I've tried cake before and loved their products. They smell incredible. This is such an unusual body moisturiser since it is a spritz. So you spray it onto your skin and then rub it in. It contains shea butter, coconut oil and milk to moisturiser your skin. It's light, but is really moisturising.

Quo Holiday Pearls Eye shadows (Palette 1)I absolutely love the packaging of this! It is so gorgeous. On the cover it has little gems in jade, white, clear and pink. The two eye shadows are almost too cute to use! They have a gorgeous imprint of flowers on them. They have a gorgeous shimmer to them. LOVE this product!!

Annabelle Kohl EyelinerShayna sent me 3 different colours. Mercury (black), Acajou (Plum) and Fiesta (a gorgeous purple). I don't use much eyeliner, and when I normally do it is boring brown, so I can't wait to try these out. I think the black and plum will go well for a simple look, but the purple will really bring out my greeny brown eyes. They are really long lasting and even hold up if washed off. You need a serious eye remover to get off these!

Marcelle Cream Blusher in "Heatherwood"This is a really unusual colour, and I'm not sure how to explain it. It looks reddy brown in the pot, but is a light brown but almost pinky with shimmer on the skin (I told you it was hard to explain!). It gives your skin that glowy look. I think it would be fantastic as an eye shadow too (as long as I use an eye primer).

Lip gloss in "Extravagant"Now i don't know who makes this, as the brand was on the wrapping, and I threw it away to open the lip gloss, but I do know it's called "Extravagant." This is a lip plumper, and I think it is the best lip plumper I've ever tried. It really makes your lips tingle and I felt like my lips were in outer space! They really plumped them. The colour is so cool. It is a browny gold colour that looks almost alien like (it sparkles almost like alfoil...that really bright, sharp sparkle look).

Pam's Girly Bits Nail Polish in "Cosmic Ocean"I'm so excited to try this. I've been wanting to try out her polishes since November. They are 3 free polishes and she has such an amazing collection. Look out for a blog post today on how it looks!

China Glaze in " Snow Globe"I've never tried a China Glaze product before!! I LOVE the name of this. The polish looks like a snow globe! I love that this can be used by itself or over another colour. You can see them here on Neverland Nail Blog over multiple colours. I really loved the white base, but didn't have white, so I used the Julep "Shania" nail polish that Shayna sent me. I love that it isn't too flashy but still gives some sparkle. In the light it picks up gorgeous yellow/green/blue/silver flecks. I love that this polish has a built in hardener so if you are too busy you can skip the overcoat.

Finger Paints Nail Colour in "Twisted"This is another awesome glitter polish that can be used by itself or with another colour. It does look better over black or a dark colour. I tried it with Innoxa's "Candy Apple" and while it didn't look great in the photo, it's really gorgeous in person. Shayna has some swatches of it on her blog, along with other "colours" from Finger Paints. You can see them here. The darker the base colour, the more the flakes POP! But I love a lighter base colour for a more simple and understated effect.

She also included some samples from a brad called NeoStrata (which I hadn't heard of before), Cliniderm, Philosophy and Kiehls'.

I loved that she put in so much effort into the packaging. She also included love hearts, chocolates and lollies.

I really loved doing the swap, and would love to do more in the future. You can also see on Shayna's blog her most recent blog swap for Easter.

Thanks to Mystique for organising it, Shayna for spoiling me but not Canada post which took 3 months to send it! I think they must have had someone swim it over!! :( But luckily it was worth the wait.

Hey Guys, Stay tuned. I organised the Valentines swap and a few bloggers participated in an Easter Swap. The next one is going to be the Xmas swap and of course another Valentine's Swap next year. You can stay tuned on http://beastandbeauty.wordpress.com for more details or email me (see my card in the about me section) to be involved!Mystique x

About Me

I love anything beauty related. You name it, i have either tried it, read about it or want it.
This blog is dedicated to all things beauty. I always try and make things different and special so you aren't reading another blog on the same things. I want you to read and learn something new or be tempted to try something different.